In a letter reportedly sent to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. "has not ruled out any option" and asked him to "understand the urgency of my tone."

Three Afghan female journalists were killed in the eastern part of the country on Tuesday. It's part of an on-going wave of assassinations aimed at journalists and human rights activists.

The pandemic has slowed efforts to eradicate the contagious disease. Yet the country's polio effort offers insights on the launch of its coronavirus vaccine campaign.

Zindagi Tamasha has come under fire for its portrayal of a its Muslim cleric. Critics add it to a growing list of entertainment shelved this year in response to outcries from the religious right.

The country had nearly annihilated polio before conspiracy theories gave the disease room to spread. An army of health workers is set to give coronavirus vaccines too — if Pakistanis will take them.

The fifth most populous country has put strategies in place to address anti-vaccine sentiment and prevent elites from using their influence to obtain government vaccines.

Journalist Daniel Pearl's beheaded body was found in a shallow grave in the Pakistani port city of Karachi in 2002. The murder conviction of Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh was overturned last year.

Pakistan's Oscar submission for the best international feature category is a film that Pakistanis cannot watch — as gatekeepers weed out media that are seen as violating the country's moral code.

The U.N. finds that nearly half of all children younger than 5 in Afghanistan, some 3.1 million, are facing acute malnutrition. Mothers share their plight to provide the children sustenance.

While Israel has already vaccinated half a million citizens against the coronavirus, the vaccine timeline for poor countries will be much longer. We look at Israel, Pakistan and the Philippines.

As the U.S. withdraws from Afghanistan after 20 years, it leaves behind a country made worse by the pandemic. The situation for children under five is dire: more than 40% are acutely malnourished.

Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh's murder conviction was overturned in April and he was ordered released for time served for kidnapping Pearl. He has remained in detention pending appeals.

The Taliban have waged attacks across the country, prompting a call to reduce the violence from Gen. Mark Milley. In Kabul, the public worries about the Taliban's return.

As the U.S. withdraws all but 2,500 troops from Afghanistan soon, it is leaving behind a country plagued by a surge in violent attacks, with the Taliban on the outskirts of the capital, Kabul.

In the last weeks of the Trump administration, the U.S. is moving to close a two-decade chapter and withdraw from Afghanistan, causing great apprehension among Afghans as the Taliban step up attacks.

Mahbubullah Muhibbi is the latest, and one of the highest-profile victims of shadowy assailants, who've killed journalists, police, security forces, judicial authorities and senior administrators.

The two sides have agreed on a way forward for substantive negotiations aimed at ending decades of almost continuous war in the country, representatives said in near-twin tweets.

"Only through a series of independent inquiries will we uncover the true extent of this disregard for Afghan life, which normalized murder, and resulted in war crimes," an Afghan rights group says.

The Australian military released a candid report detailing war crimes allegedly committed by Australian forces serving in Afghanistan. The report claims Australian troops killed 39 unarmed civilians.

Biden's record, especially as vice president, helps illuminate what he may do once he is sworn in. Amid an uptick in violence, some Afghans hope for a reassessment of the U.S.-Taliban peace agreement.